4 Days

 calories, Christmas, Dinner, fitness, food, Food update, Friends, game night, gym, Holidays, kettle bells, Portland, Portland activities, Portland Restaurants, Restaurants, Review, Weekend Update, weight training  No Responses »
Nov 262012
 

What a lovely weekend! It doesn’t hurt that I had four days off from work! I needed it, too. It was so nice being able to sleep in, do whatever I wanted and see family and friends. I didn’t really do any Black Friday shopping except for one item that I got in the afternoon. I may have bought a certain something for a certain someone and maybe hid it at a friend’s house. But I’m not talking! On Friday night, Michael and I watched “The Woman in Black.” It was actually a really good movie and I think only PG-13, but it was SCARY!

On Saturday morning I did the exercise bike at the gym and then spent a long time working out with kettle bells. I was trying to build back all the core strength I had before I took a week off due to my cold. As a result, I lost track of time and ended up going longer than I planned on. Oh well, it felt great!

After that we went out to lunch at Mac! Mac & Cheesery on N. Mississippi Ave. Mississippi is a cool little neighborhood here in Portland with some funky stores, art galleries and good restaurants. We’ve both heard good things about Mac and it finally wasn’t pouring rain outside so we went. The place was trendy and funky, with retro lunch boxes decorating the walls.

I got a pink of Ninkasi Total Domination IPA, and I ordered the Fried Mac n’ Cheese Balls (there were 4 total, I ate 3) and then a tiny cup of the tomato garlic bisque. Michael got the order of four cheese mac.

The fried mac n’ cheese balls were fantastic–not greasy and just the right size. I am disappointed with myself for not looking up the calorie count BEFORE I ordered them. They were way more than I would ever have eaten, honestly. But they were really good. And my soup came in a tiny cup, so I didn’t eat tons of food–it just felt like I did!

Michael’s mac n’ cheese serving was humongous and he deemed it the “best” mac n’ cheese he’s ever had at a restaurant. I had a few bites and I agreed that it was really good–not quite as good as his homemade famous mac n’ cheese but REALLY GOOD. The flavors of the cheese were distinct and delicious, the breadcrumbs on top were crunchy. He ended up eating all of it. :)

The service was friendly and fast at Mac, the food was delicious, the portions were huge (so lots of leftovers if you want), it was cheap and it was also a great place to take kids. There were ample choices for kids, vegans or people who were gluten free. If you’re near N. Mississippi Ave, give it a try!

After lunch we walked around (i.e. rolled ourselves down the street) and did some shopping. Michael found his white elephant gift for my family Christmas party and I enjoyed just window shopping at all the funky stores.

Saturday night, we went over to my friends’ Erika and Charles’s house for dinner. Charles made pork and chicken enchiladas from scratch and they were so good! He used green enchilada sauce and they were oozing with flavor. He also made Mexican rice on the side–which I haven’t had in years and ate way too much of.

We hung out and ended up playing to games of Spades until it was almost midnight and everyone was ready to go to sleep. It was so much fun! Spades is definitely my favorite card game. It’s easy to teach/learn and it can get really exciting. Erika brought out the dessert she made while we were playing the games:

Oh.My.God. You know, it’s funny because a few weeks ago I posted the recipe for the peppermint s’mores on my Facebook page and asked which of my friends wanted to make it and bring it to my house. :) Erika said she’d make up but she wouldn’t deliver them! Too funny, but I’m glad she decided to make them for us when we came over because they were SCRUMPTIOUS! Simple but decadent. I think I might make these for my family Christmas party…I will post the recipe if I do.

The rest of the weekend was spent doing the norm: grocery shopping, mounds of laundry, catching up on TV shows from last week and of course doing a little Christmas shopping. I also finished up all my holiday cards! I was really on the stick this year. (I started handmaking them last weekend when I was home sick and finished them this weekend while I watched TV.)

I used pictures that I took from Christmas last year when I got my new camera. They weren’t perfect photos because I hadn’t learned how to use my camera yet, but they looked pretty good. I think the cards turned out well. What do you think?

QUESTION: How was your weekend? Did you do any Black Friday shopping?

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Skyfall

 body changes, Date Night, Eating out, fitness, food, Food update, Friends, kettle bells, Lunch, Movie, Portland, Portland activities, Portland Restaurants, Restaurants, Review, Weekend Update, weight training  10 Responses »
Nov 142012
 

I love long weekends! My long weekend started with a great swim and then Michael and I went to a friend’s house for a dinner party. It was a unique kind of dinner party. Our friends were going to reveal the results from their ultrasound! It was a really fun idea. We arrived and they told us to put on a little pin with our guess: boy or girl?

Mustaches for boy votes, pink lipstick kisses for girl votes. Our friends had taken their sealed ultrasound results to the party store and asked the guy working there to look at the results and put the appropriate colored balloons into a big box and seal it. They had to wait three days until the party to find out for themselves! I couldn’t wait. The anticipation would kill me. :)

It was a boy!! It was fun being part of the reveal along with the soon-to-be parents. There was also tons of food: salad, fruit, pizza, cookies and cupcakes. I might have eaten one too many of those amazing things.

It was a fun night and it was good to meet some new people and see some old friends. (One was a coworker I used to work with years and years and a 100 pounds ago! It was funny seeing her reaction when she finally recognized me.) I spent way too much time playing with my friend’s adorable Italian Greyhound:

Needless to say, Saturday morning at the gym I pushed myself a little bit harder to work off those mini cupcakes. I spent 40 minutes on the bike and then spent the remainder of my workout doing kettle bells. After only a few weeks of doing them, I notice a change in my body. My core feels a little stronger, my shoulders looked sculpted and I feel stronger all around.

It was such a nice day in Portland on Saturday–freezing cold but dry. Michael and I wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the rain-free day so we went out to lunch after my workout. I’ve been dying to share this sandwich with you guys. WOWZA. Probably one of the best sandwiches I’ve eaten as of yet.

We went to Meat Cheese Bread in SE Portland. With a name like that, you can’t go wrong. Michael got the steak sandwich with blue cheese on it and said it was also one of the best sandwiches he’d ever had. Mine is pictured above. It was the “Green Bean” sandwich. In it was a soft boiled egg, sauteed green beans, aioli sauce, and bacon relish. The baguette was soft and chewy, but lightly toasted. I cannot express just how delicious this sandwich was! It sounds like a weird combo but it was not weird at all. I definitely want to recreate this masterpiece at home.

With our bellies full and satisfied, and with me commenting that I wanted to eat two more of those sandwiches, we headed downtown to spend the afternoon at the Chinese Gardens. The gardens are in the middle of Chinatown in downtown, hidden behind giant white walls. It’s deceiving because you can’t tell what beauty is hiding behind the walls and it also looks really small but it’s pretty big once you get inside. It’s feels like it’s three times its size once you’re inside the sanctuary.

It really does feel like another world inside there. There were giant koi fish swimming in the waters and the place was filled with pretty chrysanthemums.

 

Aren’t those wonderful? I think the orange one above looks like something you’d find in the ocean. We meandered around the gardens, enjoying the charming scenery.

It had been at least a decade since I’d been to the Chinese Gardens. It’s a great place to take people visiting Portland from out of town, but for some reason I always forget about it. Michael had never been there, which surprised me as well.

The ground was a mixture of stonework and this amazing tile work. The ground itself was art. There was so much more that I could show you, but you should come to Portland and take a look for yourself. It’s an enchanting escape. :)

Our fun-filled Saturday ended with a movie date. We saw “Skyfall” and it was an exceptional movie. I enjoyed it so much and there wasn’t a moment in the movie where I was bored, confused or ready for it to be over. In fact, when the credits started I was kind of sad that it was over. I won’t give anything away but I will say that the casting was fantastic! Well done! Go see this movie! :)

QUESTION: What was your favorite part of the weekend? 

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